The gesture on the part of the Indian government and the Archaeological Survey of India to return a portion of the relics of Queen Ketevan of Georgia, found in the St Augustine Church in Goa in 2005 has brought joy to the people of Georgia as St Queen Ketevan is considered a martyr and deeply revered.
Queen Ketevan was killed in 1624 in Shiraz (Persia) for not converting to Islam and joining his harem. It is believed the emperor of Persia, Shah Abbas I asked for her killing, much after his invasion of her land and bringing her back to Persia, a fact that modern-day Iran has denied.
Parts of the mortal remains of her right arm were brought to Goa by Augustinian monks. But her relics remained lost till 2005 when they were discovered at the St Augustine Church in Old Goa. DNA analysis by the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, confirmed in 2013 that the relics were of Queen Ketevan of Georgia.
To keep her relics safe, they hid different parts of her body at different places. In an unusual turn of events, the right arm of the queen was carried to St Augustinian convent in Old Goa and kept it safely.
When a portion of her relics (from her right arm) were handed over to the Georgian government earlier this month, the people of India were thanked by Georgia’s President and Prime Minister. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his last Mann ki Baat radio programme mentioned this development and thanked the people of Goa “for preserving this unique side of the shared history of India and Georgia. He said, “Goa has been the land of many a great spiritual heritage. Saint Augustine Church is a UNESCO’s World Heritage Site – a part of the Churches and Convents of Goa.”
The Goan community is happy as the role played by ASI and the Centre but are pained that they missed out on the great journey of the relics and a chance to have a memorable send-off function
Goans are proud of their spiritual and cultural heritage. From 2005 when the relics were found till 2013 when they were confirmed, the people of Goa were not really informed about the great historical significance of the relics. After all, the relics of the great martyr rested in Goa. However when the time came to implement the decision of the government to send a portion of her relics to Georgia, the Archbishop of Goa, the priests and the entire Goan community would have been proud and honoured, and extremely happy if a special mass was celebrated followed by a beautiful send-off ceremony of the revered relics.
My CM and Bishop should have travelled to Georgia along with the relics
It would have been a wonderful decision if my CM Dr Pramod Sawant and Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao had travelled to Georgia together with the relics so that Goa could have been proudly represented as a land of togetherness peace, harmony and community living. It would have made all Goans very proud too.
ASI worked within its protocol but perhaps they were also in a rush to do this quickly in order to get Indian treasures back.
The ASI of course, has done everything within the rules and protocol and should be thanked. But since the process of handing over the relics was done quickly, one wonders if this gesture would lead India to making a case of getting the famed Kohinoor diamond back from the UK. And even get others (not strictly treasures) like Vijay Mallya, Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi, who have fled the country for various frauds, back into the country.
This is mainly about sentiment, not rules
It is mainly about sentiment. The citation which will be kept next to the relics of St Queen Ketevan, returned from Goa, will say “gift from people of India to people of Georgia”. When it is a gift from the “people” then the sentimental community of Goans, are correct to feel that they should have been involved and included in the giving of the gift.
Nevertheless the ASI should be congratulated for doing a very good job in identifying, confirming and preserving the lyrics. The relics of St Queen Ketevan has only enriched Goa and its ancient history.
